"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14 NIV)
Moses told his people this just before he parted the water for the Israelites to safely escape the Egyptians. They had lived in unspeakably bad conditons - slaves, starved, beaten, worked literally to death. Yet even at the prospect of freedom, they balked! Fear is so powerful, isn't it? They wanted so badly what Moses told them God would do. And yet . . . they were terrified.
Terrified. Of the the unknown. Of the past. Of the future. That God might not really come through. That they were not worthy of God's time, attention, love and especially his grace and mercy. Terrified. And anything but still!
How about you? Speaking for myself . . . I don't do "still" very well. I'm more like the Israelites, I must admit I don't trust God as much as I should. And like the Israelites, I want everything that God promises. But I keep getting in my own way!
I'm a "fixer" and a "doer". I like to "rally the troops", "get the ball rolling." You get the idea. I spend so much time fixing and doing and rallying that I often forget to make time for God and His plans for me. I forget to be still so He can step in. And Moses reminds us "you need only to be still." Such a tall order for such as me.
David declares in Psalm 46, "He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Be still! God will fight your battles for you. He'll wage every kind of war against your enemies. He will place a hedge of protection around you. He will send His angels to guard you. If you (I) will just . . . be . . . still . . .
"So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6 NIV)
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Showing posts with label Exodus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exodus. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
"I AM" is all we need
"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exodus 3:13,14 KJV).
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isaiah 45:5-7 NIV).
The chorus to a song I heard the other day states, “Everybody’s worshiping something. I choose You.” The song relates how many idols there are in our lives and how we put them too often before we put God.
Moses was well-respected in his own “sphere of influence.” His concern, though, was that those who did not know him would probably not follow him on his word alone. He knew he would need some higher authority to give his words power and credibility. A God bigger and more powerful than all the other gods. God knew that too. The burning bush for Moses was the first time since Eden’s fall that God sought out an intimate and personal relationship with man.
Moses wasn’t exactly thrilled with that dubious honor, though. And I don’t blame him! Who? I AM. The I AM? Yes, THE I AM. Oh. Okay. Well I think you must have made a small error. You see, God, I stutter. And I’m getting on in years. And I’ve made a life for myself here. It’s a pretty good life, too and I don’t think my wife and her family will be very happy with me when I tell them all this. I’m not sure even they’ll believe me, let alone the Israelites!
God was patient with Moses. And with the Israelites. He guided Moses every step of the way – providing him exactly what he needed to become the leader he grew into. And through Moses, He made the same provisions for the Israelites. And He provides for us too. Don’t you think the God who formed the light and created darkness can handle our little lives without much trouble? Well . . . sure. But . . . Well . . . OK. He does handle it, just not the way I think it should go sometimes. And God responds that is because we are not in charge!
I struggle so often with trying to take control of my life and my world. And, thankfully, God remains patient with me. Even after all these centuries He remains patient with us. He assures us, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”. I don’t know about you, but I need a God who is in charge—even when I pretend He’s not. And I am so grateful He lets me think it’s all my idea to give Him back control.
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things" (Isaiah 45:5-7 NIV).
I AM
The chorus to a song I heard the other day states, “Everybody’s worshiping something. I choose You.” The song relates how many idols there are in our lives and how we put them too often before we put God.
Moses was well-respected in his own “sphere of influence.” His concern, though, was that those who did not know him would probably not follow him on his word alone. He knew he would need some higher authority to give his words power and credibility. A God bigger and more powerful than all the other gods. God knew that too. The burning bush for Moses was the first time since Eden’s fall that God sought out an intimate and personal relationship with man.
Moses wasn’t exactly thrilled with that dubious honor, though. And I don’t blame him! Who? I AM. The I AM? Yes, THE I AM. Oh. Okay. Well I think you must have made a small error. You see, God, I stutter. And I’m getting on in years. And I’ve made a life for myself here. It’s a pretty good life, too and I don’t think my wife and her family will be very happy with me when I tell them all this. I’m not sure even they’ll believe me, let alone the Israelites!
God was patient with Moses. And with the Israelites. He guided Moses every step of the way – providing him exactly what he needed to become the leader he grew into. And through Moses, He made the same provisions for the Israelites. And He provides for us too. Don’t you think the God who formed the light and created darkness can handle our little lives without much trouble? Well . . . sure. But . . . Well . . . OK. He does handle it, just not the way I think it should go sometimes. And God responds that is because we are not in charge!
I struggle so often with trying to take control of my life and my world. And, thankfully, God remains patient with me. Even after all these centuries He remains patient with us. He assures us, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”. I don’t know about you, but I need a God who is in charge—even when I pretend He’s not. And I am so grateful He lets me think it’s all my idea to give Him back control.
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Two cents' worth
I'm a member of a Christian writing group and this past Sunday afternoon we kicked off our new year with bang! Some time ago I met an amazing young man at a book festival where we both had displays. His story is so incredible I immediately contacted our co-director and suggested she invite him to be a speaker for our group.
You can read about Frederic Almond, Sr. and click on the link to his website at Richmond Christians Who Write or HERE.
His message was quite inspirational and one comment he made in particular really hit close to home. It is so simple theologically and yet so profound:
I have no doubt God used Frederic on Sunday to speak to each of us in the room -- as Christians and as writers. His words certainly were like straight arrows shooting into my life!
Frederic's words were so profound that I am still praying on them this morning. I have asked God to give me patience through the process, endurance for the journey, obedience to guide my steps and especially gratitude for going to the trouble of working in and through me and my life.
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling" (Exodus 15:13 NIV).
"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16 NIV).
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
You can read about Frederic Almond, Sr. and click on the link to his website at Richmond Christians Who Write or HERE.
His message was quite inspirational and one comment he made in particular really hit close to home. It is so simple theologically and yet so profound:
"God takes us through a process not because of what we know but because of what HE knows. If we knew what the purpose was, we would try to put our two cents' worth in and mess it up."
I have no doubt God used Frederic on Sunday to speak to each of us in the room -- as Christians and as writers. His words certainly were like straight arrows shooting into my life!
Frederic's words were so profound that I am still praying on them this morning. I have asked God to give me patience through the process, endurance for the journey, obedience to guide my steps and especially gratitude for going to the trouble of working in and through me and my life.
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling" (Exodus 15:13 NIV).
"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16 NIV).
Blessings on your journey,
Mary
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